Engineering and Science: Science and . . . Why Separation into . . - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . From Full Cognition to . . . Science and . . . Engineering and Science: Science and . . . Why Separation into . . . How They Differ, Beyond Separation . . . and Why We Need Symmetries: Example Conclusion This Difference Home Page Vladik Kreinovich Title Page ◭◭ ◮◮ Department of Computer Science University of Texas at El Paso ◭ ◮ El Paso, Texas, USA vladik@utep.edu Page 1 of 14 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 1. Outline of the Talk From Full Cognition to . . . • Idea (Tchoshanov): clearly distinguish between “engi- Science and . . . neering” and “scientific” parts of education. Science and . . . Why Separation into . . . • Situation: this idea is not yet universally accepted. Beyond Separation . . . • What is needed: a better understanding of the main Symmetries: Example ideas behind – and the need for – this distinction. Conclusion Home Page • What we do: we overview how (and why) natural sci- ences and traditional engineering are separated. Title Page • How we do it: we describe the ideas behind the sepa- ◭◭ ◮◮ ration in very general terms. ◭ ◮ • Why: to make it easier to extend these ideas (and their Page 2 of 14 advantages) to education. Go Back Full Screen Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 2. Original Approach: Full Cognition From Full Cognition to . . . • Original idea: a good scientist (priest, witch, etc.) can Science and . . . predict everything. Science and . . . Why Separation into . . . • Example: ask oracles whether to start a war. Beyond Separation . . . • Example: an Egyptian army marching towards an en- Symmetries: Example emy could stop if the scarab beetles behave wrongly. Conclusion Home Page • Example: astronomer Ticho Brahe (16 cent.) was tasked to predict the fate of individuals – by horoscopes. Title Page • Another side of the coin: how did they build cathe- ◭◭ ◮◮ drals? ◭ ◮ – idea: we start building ten cathedrals, nine col- Page 3 of 14 lapse, one remains standing for centuries; Go Back – explanation: God is punishing us for our sins. Full Screen Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 3. Changes From Full Cognition to . . . • Reminder: two approaches: Science and . . . Science and . . . – everything is pre-determined, and Why Separation into . . . – everything is determined by the God. Beyond Separation . . . • In both cases: feeling that not much we can do. Symmetries: Example Conclusion • This made sense: in Dark Ages, when not much progress Home Page was made. Title Page • Industrial revolution: changes everything by showing ◭◭ ◮◮ that rapid progress is possible. ◭ ◮ • Empirical fact: Page 4 of 14 – some things can be predicted (e.g., wind causes waves); Go Back – some things cannot be predicted (e.g., shapes of the Full Screen waves). Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 4. From Full Cognition to Laplace Determinism From Full Cognition to . . . • Empirical fact (reminder): Science and . . . Science and . . . – some things can be predicted (e.g., waves); Why Separation into . . . – some things cannot be predicted (e.g., their shapes). Beyond Separation . . . • Two consequences: Symmetries: Example Conclusion – notion of randomness (impossibility to predict); Home Page – idea of Laplace determinism: once we know the cur- Title Page rent state, we can predict the future. ◭◭ ◮◮ • In the past: if you want to build a cathedral, just try building it. ◭ ◮ • New methodology: Page 5 of 14 Go Back – first, we need to know how things change ( science ); – then, we need to use this knowledge to design new Full Screen things and processes ( engineering ). Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 5. Science and Engineering: Important Difference From Full Cognition to . . . • Science explains how the world changes. Science and . . . Science and . . . • Engineering explains how to change the world the way Why Separation into . . . we want it to change. Beyond Separation . . . • Karl Marx: one of the first to understand the difference Symmetries: Example – and to apply it to social sciences as well. Conclusion • Problem: this separation is not well understood by the Home Page public. Title Page • Result: engineering profession is not as respected. ◭◭ ◮◮ • Example: a computer or a cell phone are engineering ◭ ◮ achievements. Page 6 of 14 • However: the small size of a cell phone is possible since Go Back we have science of antenna propagation. Full Screen • Example: atomic bomb was mostly engineering, but science was also needed (e.g., in isotopes separation). Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 6. Science and Engineering: Why We Need Both From Full Cognition to . . . • What American kids are taught: “scientific method”: Science and . . . Science and . . . – we formulate a hypothesis; Why Separation into . . . – we test it. Beyond Separation . . . • Classical example: Symmetries: Example – Edison tested hundreds of substances, and Conclusion Home Page – found that Tungsten (Wolfram) works best. Title Page • What was it: blind exhaustive search. ◭◭ ◮◮ • It was possible: to find a material from hundreds pos- ◭ ◮ sible. Page 7 of 14 • It is not possible: to find one of trillions of shapes of a cell phone antenna (or a medicine). Go Back • What is needed: first, a scientific theory to predict the Full Screen effect of different shapes (or different medicines). Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 7. Science and Engineering: Why We Need Both From Full Cognition to . . . • At first glance: we want to solve practical problems, Science and . . . let us do practical science. Science and . . . Why Separation into . . . • Historical examples of such short-sightedness: Beyond Separation . . . – Napoleon refused to finance a silly thing called steamship; Symmetries: Example – Stalin refused to finance a silly thing called atomic Conclusion bomb; Home Page – Hitler prohibited working on a silly project called Title Page a ballistic missile. ◭◭ ◮◮ • After the successes: the pendulum swung the other ◭ ◮ way: Page 8 of 14 – V. Fock and L. Landau released from Gulag; Go Back – A. Sakharov (“Vasia”) allowed to play ping-pong Full Screen at work. Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 8. From Anecdotes to a Serious Analysis From Full Cognition to . . . • What we have: Science and . . . Science and . . . – results y i or using designs x i , i = 1 , . . . , n ; Why Separation into . . . – desired results y ′ 1 , . . . , y ′ m . Beyond Separation . . . • What we want: designs x ′ j that lead to results y ′ j . Symmetries: Example Conclusion • Technical example: Home Page – we know electromagnetic (EM) fields y i generated Title Page by different antenna shapes x i ; ◭◭ ◮◮ – we need shapes x ′ j for cell-phone EM fields y ′ j . ◭ ◮ • Pedagogical example: Page 9 of 14 – we know the results y i of applying different teaching strategies x i to different students; Go Back – we need to find teaching strategies x ′ j to achieve Full Screen desired results y ′ j for our students. Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 9. Why Separation into Science and Engineering From Full Cognition to . . . • What we have (reminder): Science and . . . Science and . . . – results y i or using designs x i , i = 1 , . . . , n ; Why Separation into . . . – desired results y ′ 1 , . . . , y ′ m . Beyond Separation . . . • What we want: designs x ′ j that lead to results y ′ j . Symmetries: Example Conclusion • Problem: we have a huge amount of data. Home Page • Solution: separate the problem into steps so that we Title Page only process some data on each step: ◭◭ ◮◮ – first, we use x i and y i to find a relation f ( x ) for ◭ ◮ which f ( x i ) = y i ( science ); Page 10 of 14 – then, for each j = 1 , . . . , m , knowing f ( x ) and y ′ j , we find x ′ j for which f ( x ′ j ) = y ′ j ( engineering ). Go Back • In this way, we only process some of the data at the Full Screen same time: the traditional divide-and-conquer idea. Close Quit

Outline of the Talk Original Approach: . . . 10. Beyond Separation into Science and Engineer- From Full Cognition to . . . ing Science and . . . • Remaining problem: on the science stage, we still need Science and . . . to process all pairs ( x i , y i ). Why Separation into . . . Beyond Separation . . . • Natural solution: Symmetries: Example – separate pairs into clusters (e.g., with similar x i ); Conclusion – find f ( x ) for each cluster; and Home Page – combine these “local” relations into a global one. Title Page • Similarity in physical terms: x i ∼ x k if a simple trans- ◭◭ ◮◮ formation turns x i into x j . ◭ ◮ • In this case: the goal is to find what transformation Page 11 of 14 turns y i into y j . Go Back • Name of this approach: symmetries. Full Screen Close Quit